Best Friends, Loosely
by sister socrates
Summary: It's New Years Eve, and Stephen opts to hang out with Kim instead of going to Julie's party and trying to patch things up with her for the umpteenth time. Maybe a little bit AU.


**A/N: **i wish i could say i was sorry, but i'm not. i don't know why i wrote this, or what inspired it, or what. i just have a lot of feelings about stephen and kim. i think i am the only person on this ship.

**disclaimer: **i don't own scott pilgrim, etc., etc.

* * *

Kim Pine is hunched over an archaic computer when the door to the video store swings open and shut. She isn't really paying attention, and it startles her when heavy hands slam down on the counter beside her.

"I'm takin' you out tonight, Kimberly," the owner of the hands says, and she flinches. "Or you could just come over or something. You don't have any plans, do you?"

It's Stephen. She recovers quickly and barely looks up at him from under her bangs.

"What? I thought you were going to Julie's New Years party tonight."

"Who?"

"Julie. Your girlfriend. I thought we were supposed to go to her party or something."

"Oh, yeah, that Julie. We broke up."

"Again?"

"She's a total bitch." Stephen shrugs like it's nothing, but he's looking at her earnestly. He seems a little desperate. All of his anxiety problems are getting to him, she can tell. "So.. uh.. what do you say?"

Kim snorts and looks at him incredulously. "You want me to hang out with you tonight because you broke up with Julie and now you're desperate and lonely?"

"No...?" he tries, and Kim rolls her eyes. "What time do you get off tonight? 9:30?"

"Yeah. 9:30."

"Okay, so, just come over after work. If you want."

"What about Scott and Young Neil? Aren't they gonna want to have bro-time with you or something?" Kim looks back at the computer monitor. "Is that what you guys call it? Bro-time?"

Stephen scoffs. "Young Neil's sister is in town and he's hanging out with her tonight. I don't know about Scott. I think he's having girl problems. I don't really wanna get in the middle of that."

Kim sighs, resigned to her fate. Stephen is fidgeting, and she doesn't want him to have a meltdown in the middle of the video store, and Julie's parties are always kind of lame anyway. "So... 9:30, then? I guess?"

Stephen is visibly relieved. "9:30. My place."

"9:30. Your place," she parrots. Stephen grins.

"Cool. Later, Kim."

Kim hunches back over the archaic computer. The door swings shut.

9:30 comes and goes, and somewhere along the way Kim turns up on Stephen and Neil's doorstep. She's wearing a terrible sweatshirt with a glittery snowflake on it (in true holiday fashion). It makes her feel like somebody's grandma.

Stephen opens the door and tells her, "you look nice," and she punches him in the arm.

"Blow me," she says flatly, and pushes past him into the house where it's significantly warmer. She sits down on the couch and looks up at Stephen, who's still standing.

"Hey, uh... thanks for coming over, Kim."

"What if I'd had plans tonight?" Kim pulls her bony knees up to her chest and rests her chin on them. "What if I cancelled some monumental plans to come hang out with your stupid ass? Would that make you feel bad?"

Stephen looks at her like he's dumbfounded. "Kimberly Pine... you have a social life?"

Then he laughs, and she scowls, and they begin falling into the same routine they always do. Of course Kim doesn't have any other plans, but even if she did she would probably drop them to come hang out with Stephen. They do this kind of thing a lot.

Stephen Stills is sort of like her best friend. Kim tries to use the "best friend" label loosely, but he's definitely one of the only people she knows who doesn't make her want to end her own life on a regular basis. That in and of itself is a tremendous feat in the wonderful world of Kim Pine.

He makes her crazy, but they understand each other.

Stephen is still standing up, and Kim starts fishing in the couch cushions for the remote control. "So... are you just gonna stand there all night?"

"I was thinking about it, but if it really bothers you that much..."

She nudges his leg with her foot. "Sit down, asshole. You're making me nervous just leering over me like that."

Stephen laughs again, but he sits down. Kim finds the remote wedged between two cushions and starts idly flipping through channels. The clock on the wall reads 9:59.

"So..."

"Stephen, remind me again why this is supposed to be better than Julie's stupid party?" She turns her head so she's looking at him instead of the TV. Stephen notices that she put on eyeliner after work. "This sucks. You suck."

Stephen shrugs. He crosses his legs. "She's a bitch."

"You did mention that." Kim arches an eyebrow. "And I'm not?"

"No, you are. But the difference is that I like you, usually."

"You like Julie too, sometimes." Kim looks back at the television. Stephen can't read her expression, but that's nothing new. She keeps flipping channels.

"Dude, hey - dude! Go back to that!"

"Dude!" She mimics sarcastically. "What? Go back to what?"

"Back to_ The Year Without a Santa Claus_!"

Kim laughs, then, and it's kind of nice, because Kim doesn't laugh at anything. "Are you serious? It's not even Christmas. Christmas just happened."

"So? Do you have any better ideas, Kimberly Pine?"

"Yeah, here's an idea - stop calling me by my full name." She doesn't change the channel back to_ The Year Without a Santa Claus_. "Isn't that one of those old, awful movies with the puppets? Why would you wanna watch that? It's creepy as hell."

"You're creepy as hell, Kimberly." He grabs the remote from her and changes the channel. The movie is totally creepy, but Kim doesn't protest. They watch in silence for a few minutes.

"I hate you," Kim says, finally breaking the silence between them.

"Do you?" Stephen scratches his beard idly. He's a little bit too engaged in the movie.

"Yeah. This is stupid. I think I would take Julie Powers over_ The Year Without a Santa Claus_."

"I wouldn't." He uncrosses his legs and makes a move to stand up. "Speakin' of Julie, though - you want some wine? She made me pick some up for her party but I forgot to give it to her."

"She made you get her_ wine_?"

"Yeah, she did." Stephen looks a little annoyed. "It's fancy shit, too."

"Wow. Stay classy, Julie." Kim rolls her eyes. "But - what the hell. It's New Years."

Stephen gets up and when he comes back from the kitchen he's holding two coffee mugs and a bottle of wine. He hands Kim a cup with a cat on it, and she looks at him blankly.

"Coffee cups? Are you serious?"

"What? We only have some coffee cups and, like, two normal glasses. And the glasses are dirty. I don't really wanna touch them. They're crusty."

"Half of your job is dealing with crusty dishes, but you're too scared of your own mess to clean out your glasses?" Kim shakes her head in disbelief. Stephen blinks. "You're kidding."

"I'm being totally serious." Stephen pours some wine into his own coffee cup. It's from the 1982 World's Fair, and he thinks it might be Ramona's. It's definitely not theirs. He wonders vaguely where it came from. "Nobody said _you_had to drink anything, if my cat coffee cup bothers you that much."

Kim rolls her eyes and takes the bottle from him. She pours some wine into her cat coffee cup, and almost laughs out loud at the absurdity of the situation.

They sit back and keep watching_ The Year Without a Santa Claus_. They watch_ Santa Claus is Coming to Town_, too, because it came on afterwards. They get a little bit drunk off their coffee cup wine. The clock on the wall reads 11:57.

Kim almost misses it. She's curled up against Stephen, and she's had her arms wrapped around his for the last twenty or thirty minutes. She gets touchy feely when she's drunk, but Stephen doesn't mind.

"Hey, check it out," she says softly in his ear. Stephen twitches involuntarily. Kim is really close to his face, and she draws her words out a little bit. "It's alllllmost midnight. It's allllmost a brand new year."

"Yeah..."

"You get to start over, Stephen. You get a cleaann slate."

"Yeah."

"Do you have any resolutions?"

Stephen pauses and tries to think about it, but all he can focus his foggy mind on is Kim's breath in his ear. Kim Pine, clinging to his arm. Kim Pine, one of the only people he can consistently tolerate. Kim Pine, his best friend (but he uses the "best friend" label loosely).

The clock on the wall reads 12:00.

"Mmm... just one." He finally answers. He runs a hand through his hair.

"Just one?"

"Yeah." Kim and Stephen look at each other blankly. He swallows hard, and then he kisses her. "Happy new year, Kim." He tries hard not to slur.

They're sitting so close, and Stephen can feel her coffee cup wine breath on his face. Kim stares him down in silence. Her eyeliner is smudged.

She kisses Stephen on his open mouth.

The kissing at midnight on New Years Day feels a little too much like a bad movie cliche, but both their heads are cloudy and they don't care much. Cliche or not, it's kind of nice.

They're making out on Stephen and Young Neil's couch, and it's kind of nice.

They're making out on Stephen and Young Neil's couch, and then Kim's terrible snowflake sweatshirt is in the floor. And then Stephen's flannel shirt is half off. And then the front door opens.

Neil drops his keys on the table by the door. He flips the lights on. He coughs deliberately and uncomfortably.

Kim makes a muffled, strangled noise. Stephen gets off of her and adjusts his shirt casually. The coffee cup with the cat on it is sitting on the floor next to the couch, and in his haste, he kicks it over. Julie's fancy wine spills all over the hardwood.

Neil clears his throat again. He tries to look at anything that isn't Stephen or Kim. "...happy new year, you guys."

Kim covers her face. Stephen shifts awkwardly in his seat.

"Happy new year, Young Neil."


End file.
